Saunders hopes to rebound from a disappointing showing in Bellator’s season-five tournament. The UFC vet earned a trip to the finals with a TKO victory over Chris Cisneros and submission win over Luis Santos. But in a huge upset, Douglas Lima used a second-round knocked to take the tournament title.

The setback snapped a four-fight win streak that came after Saunders’ exit from the UFC.

Rickels has thrice appeared on Bellator cards as a preliminary-card fighter and now hopes to take center stage. Submissions run deep on the Kansas resident’s resume with six of his eight wins coming by way of tapout, though the level of competition he’s faced over a year-plus as a pro is uneven.

Amaya’s resume is not much different. While he boasts six submission and three knockout victories on his undefeated record, all but a few of his opponents carry losing records. Still, he has yet to go the distance in two-plus years as a pro.

In addition to the welterweight tournament, Bellator is hosting season-six tourneys in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and middleweight divisions. Each tourney winner gets $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.

For more on Bellator’s upcoming season, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?